Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Jun 20, 2025

Apple’s new ‘child-safety’ features face fresh challenge over censorship & privacy from over 90 rights groups

Apple’s new ‘child-safety’ features face fresh challenge over censorship & privacy from over 90 rights groups

Apple’s controversial plan to scan user photos and conversations for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) faces renewed criticism after rights groups warned it would “censor protected speech”, threaten privacy and endanger children.

In a letter published on the Center for Democracy and Technology website, a coalition of more than 90 groups from around the world urged Apple CEO Tim Cook to drop plans to introduce the surveillance feature – known as a CSAM hash – to detect child pornographic imagery stored on the iCloud.

The letter, published on Thursday, points to the use of “notoriously unreliable” machine learning algorithms to scan for sexually explicit images in the ‘Messages’ service on iOS devices. It notes that this could result in alerts that “threaten the safety and well-being” of young people with abusive parents.

“iMessages will no longer provide confidentiality and privacy to those users through an end-to-end encrypted messaging system in which only the sender and intended recipients have access to the information sent,” the groups warned.

They added that the technology could also open the door to “enormous pressure” and legal compulsions from various governments to scan for images deemed “objectionable” such as protests, human rights violations and even “unflattering images” of politicians.

Signatories to the letter include the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Access Now, Privacy International, and the Tor Project. Besides, a number of overseas groups have added their concerns about the policy’s impact on countries with different legal systems.

An Apple spokesman told Reuters the company had addressed privacy and security concerns earlier. Last week, it released a document detailing why the scanning software’s complex architecture allowed it to resist attempts at abusing it.

Earlier this month, a separate letter posted on GitHub and signed by privacy and security experts, including former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, condemned the “privacy-invasive content scanning technology”. It also warned that the policy “threatens to undermine fundamental privacy protections” for users, under the guise of child protection.

Other concerns have been raised about the possibility of “false positives” in the hash-scanning feature, which looks for an image’s ‘hash’ – a string of letters and numbers that are unique to the image – and matches it to databases provided by child protection agencies like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).


Although a recent Apple FAQ claimed the likelihood of a false positive “less than one in one trillion [incorrectly flagged accounts] per year”, researchers reported the first case of “hash collision” – where the feature identified two completely different images as producing the same hash – this week.

According to TechCrunch, “hash collisions” are a “death knell” for systems relying on encryption.

However, the tech news outlet said Apple downplayed the concerns in a press call and argued that it had protections in place – including human moderators reviewing flagged incidents before they are reported to law enforcement – to protect against the false positive issue.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
Mass exodus in Tehran as millions try to flee following Trump’s evacuation order
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
Iran Conducts Ballistic Missile Launches Amid Heightened Tensions with Israel
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
Israel Issues Ultimatum to Iran Over Potential Retaliation and Nuclear Facilities
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
Trump to Iran: Make a Deal — Sign or Die
Operation "Like a Lion": Israel Strikes Iran in Unprecedented Offensive
Israel Launches 'Operation Rising Lion' Targeting Iranian Nuclear and Military Sites
Israeli Forces Intercept Gaza-Bound Aid Vessel Carrying Greta Thunberg
IMF Warns of Severe Global Trade War Impacts on Emerging Markets
Syria to Reconnect to Global Economy After 14 Years of Isolation
Saudi Arabia Faces Uncertainty Over Succession After Mohammed bin Salman
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Majority of French Voters View Macron's Presidency as a Failure
U.S. Reduces Military Presence in Syria
Trump Demands Iran End All Uranium Enrichment in Nuclear Talks
Iran Warns Europe Against Politicizing UN Nuclear Report
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
Head of Gaza Aid Group Resigns Amid Humanitarian Concerns
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
×